Cuba frees 17th journalist jailed in Black Spring

October 12, 2010 2:46 PM ET

New York,
October 12, 2010--Cuban journalist Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, left, was freed from
prison on Friday and exiled to Spain
as part of a July agreement between the Havana
government and the Catholic Church. Seventeen journalists jailed in the 2003 Black Springcrackdown
have now been freed and exiled as part of the agreement. "I feel as if I was born again, trying to get used to cell phones, personal
computers and emails, all things that were barely known in Cuba before I was
jailed," Fuentes told CPJ in a telephone interview.

Fuentes said that he never wanted
to leave Cuba,
but seven years of incarceration made it too hard to stay. "It was a difficult
decision, but even more difficult was to turn down the offer and remain in jail,"
he explained.

Fuentes, a freelance
reporter originally based in the city of Artemisa,
began serving a 26-year prison term in March 2003. He arrived in Madrid shortly after
noon on Friday, accompanied by ten members of his family.

In July, the Catholic Church
brokered an agreement with Cuban authorities to release 52 political prisoners who
were arrested seven years ago, during a massive government crackdown on
political dissent and independent journalism. Spanish government officials also
participated in the talks.

All 17 of the reporters
released so far have been immediately flown to Spain. (One has since relocated to Chile.)

Three journalists arrested
in the 2003 crackdown remain in jail, along with another journalist imprisoned
at a later time, CPJ research shows. The first three--including CPJ awardee Héctor Maseda--have already
expressed their desire to stay in Cuba upon release, the reporters' families
told CPJ.

A story published in
September by the Madrid-based daily El
País quoted Spanish officials as saying that imprisoned reporters who
want to stay in Cuba
upon release will be freed through a parole program. The Cuban government has
not confirmed the existence of such a program.

Below is a capsule report on
Fuentes' case from CPJ's annual census of jailed journalists, conducted in
December 2009.

Alfredo Felipe Fuentes,
freelanceImprisoned: March
19, 2003

Fuentes, an economist by
training, began working for the Cuban independent press in 1991. On March 19,
2003, he was arrested after a raid on his home in the city of Artemisa. The next month, the freelance
reporter was convicted of violating Article 91 of the Cuban penal code, which
imposes harsh penalties for acting against "the independence or the territorial
integrity of the state." A judge in western Havana province handed him a 26-year prison
sentence.

The 60-year-old journalist
was being held at the maximum-security Guanajay Prison, his wife, Loyda Valdés
González, told CPJ. Valdés González, who is allowed to visit her husband only
once every 45 days, said conditions at Guanajay were better than those at other
prisons where he had been held. Due to his severe back problems, the reporter
did not share a cell with other prisoners. Valdés González said her husband
suffered from chronic gastritis that caused him to lose significant amounts of
weight.

Valdés González told CPJ
that in December 2007, her husband presented an appeal to Cuba's Supreme Tribunal Court.
Because Cuban authorities denied Fuentes access to a lawyer, he did so without
benefit of counsel. After two years, the court had still not responded to him,
Valdés González told CPJ.

Critical news websites blocked during Cuba referendum vote

February 25, 2019 5:01 PM ET

Miami, February 25, 2019-- Cuban authorities should immediately ensure citizens have access to news websites, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Several critical news sites were blocked in the country yesterday, as Cuba held a national referendum on proposed changes to its constitution, news sites reported....